10 Things Week 16: I Can't Believe I'm at Week 16....

My birthday gift from Louse--run happy!

So, I can't believe I am even writing this post. I remember getting my 16 week plan from Tonia in early January and looking at the pages and pages of runs I'd have to do to get to the point where I could slowly run a 5K.  I remember looking at today's particular run--40 minutes at 9 minutes running/1minute walking four times.  I remember thinking I'd never get to that.  I remember last week looking at that run and thinking I'd never be able to do it. I remember emailing Tonia wondering if my plan needed to be extended a bit.  I remember all week dreading this run.  Even though I have one more week, this one was the one I have been most worried about 40 minutes of almost all running.  And guess what? I did it.  I decided to do an indoor workout on the treadmill.  I have been out of town and am exhausted and didn't want to mess up this run. So I did it slowly --very slowly, like a 14 minute mile--on the treadmill at the rec center. It was a really good run. I could have run the whole thing I think. I could have done another round or two.  I felt good and got a really good workout.  I am totally fascinated by this....

So, I am going into my last week of this 5K training. That will give me about 3 weeks to practice running the 5K length before the actual 5K so that's good because I don't think next weekend's run will be at all pretty.

Here are 10 things about my running life this week:

1.  My good friend Louse Borden (amazing children's author) met me for dinner and fun in Washington DC this week. I had flown in for an NCTE meeting so we were able to get together for dinner while I was there.  She brought me a birthday present that you see above. It was my first actual running present.  A running shirt that I LOVE (It says, "run happy") I totally love it! And I wore it on my run today for fun. She also bought me two magnet/stickers with funny running jokes on them. I got a gift that real runners might get. A great birthday present:-) Thanks, Louise!

2.  I am so thankful for all of the runners who blog and share their stories. I think all of the blogs I've read have helped me stick with this plan for 16ish weeks.  Another Mother Runner is one of my fave running blogs and I loved the post last week PARTY ON THE MOVE. I love that these women had this kind of party for Sarah. An idea to keep in mind for your running friends!

3. I've been following Dorothy Beal's blog-MILEPOSTS- for a while and she has been quite an inspiration. This week, her Saucony video was released this week and it is a great video. It really helped me get through some runs after watching it.  She is amazing.

4. And if that wasn't inspiration enough, her blog post about her experience, mile by mile, at the Boston Marathon last week certainly was. I followed the marathon a bit online this year. I actually "knew" people who were running and wanted to know how it was going. I heard about the heat and worried about how hard it would make it for everyone.  Such a bummer for so many people. But at the end of the day, I was amazed at the attitudes of so many people.  Dorothy was one of those people. Amazing again.

5. Then, when I was reading Heather's blog (365 DAYS OF AWESOME), I discovered another fascinating race-Ragnar. I had no idea what it was but Heather seemed very excited about it and I researched a bit. Seems it is a hugely long relay--200ish miles for teams of 12 during an overnight run. Lots of my favorite companies (such as Team Sparkle, Nuun, etc.) sponsored people in this relay.  Here's the deal from the way I understand it, the team of 12 needs 2 vans and 12 runners. Food costumes, etc. are also a must.  It sounds like a slumber party with a bit of running.  It was fun to follow this run on Twitter as everyone seemed to have a good time--even with the lows of exhaustion every so often.  A fun excuse to hang out with good friends, I think.

6. When I started running, Colby Sharp recommended that I listen to Choice Literacy podcasts. I laughed and laughed because really, I could only focus on my own breathing. Even weeks after I'd been on my running plan, the idea of listening to podcasts seemed crazy. I even had to stop listening to music to focus on the running, breathing, etc.  But today, on my way to the rec center, I knew I  wanted to listen to something and I decided I was ready for podcasts. So I listened to 3 Choice Literacy podcasts that I hadn't had the chance to listen to: Oral Language and Understanding with Ellin Keene, Vocabulary, Comprehension and the Common Core with Doug Fisher and Making the Most of Small Groups with Jennifer Serravallo. These were PERFECT to listen to today. Now that I don't have to pay attention to the clock because my intervals are longer and now that I have breathing kind of figured out, I am so much more flexible in what I can listen to. Very excited about this!

7.  I was in Washington D.C. this week for an NCTE meeting. I did not have much time but I kept looking around thinking that it was a really good city for running. I couldn't help but see places that would make for a good run. I surprised even myself with these random thoughts. So maybe next time I'm there, I will go for a run.  Even though I didn't have time for a run this trip, I did get a new sense of running while on trips. I used to see exercise as a "have to" when I was out of town--something that got in the way of a trip. But the idea of running in a new city seemed like something almost fun...

8.  I am no longer worried about fitting runs in. I just do.  There are very few excuses that I can justify to myself that work when I am talking 30-45 minutes 3 times a week. I know that is the minimum I need to get into some kind of shape but that amount of time is very doable no matter how busy people are. It seems that all runners are busy people.  And as I get a little better at this, I am a little more flexible in WHEN I can run. At the beginning, it had to be after dinner but not too close to bedtime. Then I could do after school or some weekend mornings. I think I am flexible enough now that I could maybe try a morning before work. My body is getting used to this so I am way more flexible in when I can fit it in.

9. A bit breakthrough this week--I did one of my runs outside in the neighborhood. I was so tired of the 1 mile loop in the park--going around it more than once got on my last nerve. I knew it would only get worse and that if I was going to run longer, I'd need to branch out a bit. And I knew I couldn't go forever without running in the neighborhood. It was a hard run and I am sure I looked like I was in pain during the whole run, but I just ignored the cars and people that were passing and hoped no one recognized me. I am sure someone probably did but I am thankful that they haven't mentioned it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it gave me more options for where to run. Only other thing I'd love to try is running in the rain but I don't want to run in the freezing cold rain so I will wait for a perfect rain day for that--no hurry!

10.  Except for Yoga, I haven't done much else besides my 3 days of running.  And even the yoga hasn't been consistent. But one of my main goals in this plan was to give me flexibility in my exercise. I had gotten so out of shape that I had absolutely no options for exercise in terms of classes, etc.  I used to love 80s aerobics and often look at classes offered around here. Once I get to 5K and I try to add more exercise/cross training in, I am excited about the possibilities. I know I am not really ready for many of these classes but I feel ready enough to give them a try.

Party on the blog next week as I celebrate the end of a 16 week running plan. Not the end of running, of course---Just the beginning!